Thursday, June 7, 2012

How well is F-35 testing going?

Year To Date cumulative flight and Test Point (TP) actuals again remained ahead of plan. Of the 3737 actual TPs, 3146 are baseline points against a baseline plan of 2818 and 591 are added points.

So how does that break out per each aircraft type? And what are the percentages over requirement (FS = Flight Sciences and MS = Mission Systems):

May major program achievements:

· MAXIMUM FLIGHTS and HOURS: Highest number of F-35 flights in one day, 11, achieved three times this month: May 10 (9 SDD + 2 LRIP), May 17 (7 SDD + 4 LRIP) and May 22 (5 SDD + 6 LRIP). AF-7 flew for a total of 35.6 hours (14 flights, 176 TPs) in May, setting a new individual record for the most flight hours in one month.

CATB achieved integrated MADL communications with the OASIS lab, Tues 22 May. CF-3 performed a total of 18 successful roll-in arrestments [MK-7 (6 with risers and 4 with no risers) and E-28 (8 arrestments)] at Lakehurst from 80 to 100 knots ground speed. AF-7 (LRIP1), first production F-35 to fly supersonic for over 2 minutes at EDW, Tues 15 May.

LRIP jets:

49 total flights (19 at FTW, 30 at Eglin). Three production deliveries to Eglin (BF-9, BF-10, BF-11). Three first flights (AF-16, AF-17, AF-18). Program to date, LRIP achieved 200 flight hours, Wed 9 May (at month end, approximately 250 hours).